London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

The former News of the World crime editor has been bailed after being arrested on suspicion of paying police officers.

Lucy Panton, who is married to a Scotland Yard detective, was questioned at a south London police station after officers swooped on her Surrey home at dawn on Thursday. The 37-year-old is the seventh suspect arrested under Operation Elveden, which runs alongside the Operation Weeting hacking inquiry.

Ms Panton, who has two young children, was promoted from crime correspondent to crime editor in October 2005. She remained at the paper until it was shut down at the height of the hacking scandal in July.

Elveden was launched after officers were handed documents suggesting News International journalists made illegal payments to police officers.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said a woman was arrested "on suspicion of committing offences involving making payments to police officers for information". He added: "She was arrested at a residential address in Surrey and taken to a south London police station".

She was later released on bail to a date in April.

Ms Panton, who has also worked for The People, is the first Elveden arrest since Sun district editor Jamie Pyatt, 48, was held last month.

Others questioned as part of the inquiry include former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson, former News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner, the paper's former royal editor Clive Goodman and a 63-year-old man whose identity has not been disclosed.

Mrs Brooks and Mr Coulson are both former editors of the News of the World, which was closed in July at the height of the hacking scandal following revelations that murdered teenager Milly Dowler's phone was involved.

Elveden was launched in the summer after it emerged that News International handed documents to Metropolitan Police officers investigating phone hacking which indicated illegal payments had been made to police.